The Murder Suspect Who Didn't Have Eyes
by Blanke-Slate
Summary: Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain stop in at an abandoned apartment building to check out a murder scene. The Cleavers find a suspect hiding in one of the rooms. But why is he afraid of human contact? Is he insane? Did he murder the mage? rated T for violence and bleeped out swear words. No pairings. (Contains some O.C.s but NO PAIRINGS)
1. Ch 1- Crime and Suspect

**Hey guys, quick disclaimer. I DO NOT OWN Skulduggery Pleasant, Valkyrie Cain or their stories. They belong to Derek Landy.**

**I do, however, own Diogenes Serigar, he is my O.C. please do not steal. **

**Hope you enjoy,**

**Blanke Slate**

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**Prologue**

Valkyrie sat outside the front door of the apartment. It looked like it had been abandoned for years and there was no one living in any of the other rooms. She covered her face with the collar of her jacket. The smell didn't bother Skulduggery, obviously, but Valkyrie would rather stay away from the body splattered across the wall inside. She had never had a strong stomach for murder scenes. Skulduggery opened the door and stepped into the hallway.

"He only died 5-10 minutes ago. The cleavers are going to gather anyone within a 2km radius for questioning." Skulduggery murmured. Valkyrie could see that he wanted to say something else, but was trying to stop himself. She sighed, "What is it?"

"Well, we can say this guy must've really gone out on a limb. Seriously though, the right arm is missing." Skulduggery continued, "There is no sign of a weapon, it looks like he's been ripped apart by a sword, but there's no blood leading away from the wall." Valkyrie nodded, before asking "have we got any leads yet?" She had barely finished her sentence when they heard a voice yell out through the building. "STOP! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING!" They ran.

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**I wouldn't just leave it there, don't worry. the first chapters right here.**

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**Chap 1.**

Valkyrie sighed. She knew that having a suspect was always a good start, but this guy didn't fit the bill. They had researched his background, his name was Diogenes Serigar, and it was a given name. He had no previous encounter with the world of magic and seemed to be a normal mortal. They had also discovered that he had spent 9 years of his life in an asylum, but had no violent tendencies, he was only 16. He had trouble getting a job as he was a minor, but they found no information on his point of origin. There was only one option left. Interrogation.

Skulduggery quietly unlocked the door. He was wearing his façade, for obvious reasons. The boy sat at a table, Valkyrie marvelled at how stereo-type the room looked, suspect handcuffed to table, one bright light and creepy stone walls. The boy was wearing average clothes, a hoodie and jeans, while his fringe fell over his eyes in a manner that left them invisible to the naked eye. He was quiet, although he looked composed Valkyrie could see his hands were shaking.

"So, Diogenes, do you mind if I call you Dio?" Skulduggery said, then continued when the boy simply nodded, "You're not in any trouble, we just need you to tell us what you were doing in that abandoned building and this can all be over." Dio tilted his head towards Skulduggery before murmuring something quietly, to quiet to hear. "Pardon?" Skulduggery asked.

"What happened to those men in grey?' Dio asked, clearing his voice and trying to act assertive.

"What, you mean those… Guards who brought you here?" Skulduggery tried to make it seem like a normal mortal police investigation, "Sorry if they mishandled you by the way."

"It's… okay, I… just don't like to be touched." Dio's head drooped a bit, "But I mean, what happened to make them like that? All emotionless and their physical attributes as well. What happened to Henry?"

"Henry?" Skulduggery questioned and Dio stiffened.

"I… I mean the first man who found me…"

"You definitely called him Henry." Valkyrie spoke up from the back of the room, this boy was making no sense.

"Um… He said his name was Henry." Dio nervously stuttered, it was obvious he was lying, Valkyrie had never even seen a cleaver talking. Could they even talk? Skulduggeries eyes narrowed.

"Why are you lying, you shouldn't have anything to hide." He got up and started pacing the room. Suddenly he turned to Dio and said "Can you even actually see me?" Valkyrie raised an eyebrow.

"Um... yeah, yes, why wouldn't I be able to see you?" Dio said, Valkyrie could see he was panicking.

"Because Dio, you don't have eyes." Skulduggery walked over to Dio, who tipped over his own seat in what seemed like fear.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Dio yelled as Skulduggery attempted to help him up. Skulduggery stepped back and smiled.

"Are you scared because you know what I am?" Skulduggery smirked. Valkyrie was completely lost to the conversation.

"Skulduggery, what are you doing?!" She whispered fiercely, "He's just a kid! He's not meant to know about the magical world."

"He knows a lot more than he's letting on," Skulduggery whispered back, before turning to Dio, "Why don't you drop the charade." Dio faced Skulduggery for a few second before he frowned.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Dio mumbled, "But if I'm going to come clean I'll have to ask you to as well. That face doesn't suit your reputation at all." Valkyrie was shocked by the sudden change of personality. Dio continued, "I've been trying to stay under the radar for the last couple of years. How about you let me see the body so I can find the culprit and we can be done here."

"We cannot let you near the crime scene. Protocol." Valkyrie tried to keep her confusion hidden.

"Figures, So," Dio turned to Skulduggery, "What let me away?"

"Well, apart from the fact you called the cleaver 'Henry', you knew they had been through a procedure. You should have kept your curiosity silent." Skulduggery began, "Also, you're a terrible actor, except for the no touchy thing. Which leads me to believe you have the ability to collect information through your sense of touch." Dio nodded while Valkyrie began to put the pieces together.

"Well now that you apparently know me so well I'll have to ask you not to call me by that name." Dio said, his voice was confident and he was no longer shaking. "Please call me by the name of Adrian."

"A taken name?" Skulduggery asked.

"No, I never felt the need to take a name." The boy continued, grinning slightly. Valkyrie and Skulduggery now shared an expression of shock. Valkyrie was the first to speak.

"Oh god, It's your true name."

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**Hope you enjoyed, feel free to message me with any ideas or constructive criticism!**


	2. Ch 2- Forensic Investigation

**Hello again. New chapters up like I promised. Thank you 'SP' for reviewing, it's really encouraging to receive feedback, and I will definitely continue.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Skulduggery Pleasant, Valkyrie Cain or the cleavers. I DO however own Adrian/Diogenes Serigar and Cessair Hate, They are my characters from an original story I'm writing.**

**Have fun and let me know what you think,**

**Blanke Slate.**

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Adrian looked at the duo and nodded.

"Like Mr Pleasant said, I gain information through my sense of touch, so I was born knowing everything about myself. Including my true name." Adrian explained with a slight scowl, "Which is probably why I spent 9 years in a mental asylum." Valkyrie didn't know what to expect anymore, she looked helplessly at Skulduggery and shrugged.

Skulduggery nodded, "So, why don't you have eyes?" Adrian brushed back his fringe off his face and Valkyrie gasped. He had two holes where his eyes should be, but they were ebbing a light like a movie projector.

"I was born like this, I think it's a side effect of my ability, but I can occasionally do this…" Adrian's face seemed to contort into a pained expression and the holes in his face seemed to vanish and were replaced with what looked like eyes. But they didn't blink or focus on anything, he looked like a doll.

"I can only do this for about 15 minutes each day," Adrian sighed and the eyes were once again replaced by a light ebb. Skulduggery nodded, "Well, this enforces you being the prime suspect in this case."

"Hrm, No. I have no weapon capable of that kind of thing."

"But doesn't the fact you know there was a weapon involved mean that you were at the crime scene?" Valkyrie spoke up.

"Well actually," Skulduggery replied, "He could have seen it through the eyes of the cleavers." Adrian nodded, "Seriously, let me see the body, I can find your killer and then we can never meet again."

"I'll see what we can do." Skulduggery motioned for Valkyrie to follow him out.

"You're not serious, right?" Valkyrie said, taking the suspect into the open would either give him a chance to escape, or make him a sitting duck for the real killer.

"Well, he is our best lead at the moment." Skulduggery murmured, "We can bring along some extra cleavers if you're scared."

"Yes Skulduggery, I'm deathly afraid of the Agoraphobic(1) teenager." Valkyrie smirked sarcastically.

"Agoraphobic, nice try, but the word you're looking for is Haphephobic(2)." Valkyrie cursed Google in her head, they had lied to her yet again.

"Well," she sighed, "I guess this is the best shot we have. Are we going to ask the elders for jurisdiction?"

"Valkyrie, since when do I get permission to do anything?"

They stood in the hallway. Adrian had been bound with shackles for the journey and they had 25 extra cleavers with them. Adrian may look thin and powerless, but a mage with knowledge of a true name is always dangerous.

Skulduggery opened the door to the murder scene, they had only left the scene 5 hours ago and the room was still untouched. Valkyrie checked the other rooms and nodded to Skulduggery, who removed Adrian's shackles.

Adrian sighed and entered the room. He quickly surveyed the area and went over to a broken lamp about a metre away from the corpse. "I don't need to touch the body," he explained, "I can get the same information from a different object as long as it was involved in the same incident. And it's a lot more hygienic." Skulduggery tipped his head in acknowledgement. Adrian was about to touch the lamp with a hand when he suddenly turned and said, "Would you like to see it?"

"Pardon?" Skulduggery asked.

"I can show you what happened here, you can see what I see." Adrian offered.

"That's probably the best idea." Adrian swiped his fringe of his face and touched the lamp, with a visible wince of pain. The small ebb of light from the holes on his face suddenly became a fierce blaze. Figures started to appear around the room, it was as if he was projecting a movie through his 'eyes'. They saw a man, likely the victim. He was standing on the opposite side of the room from where his corpse was now, he stood next to a desk, in front of the window. He was cramming papers and strange talisman into a bag, occasionally glancing through the window. Time seemed to fast forward, and soon the man was sitting in a chair, that was when the window broke. A new figure, supposedly the murderer, stood. He was clad in a black coat, which covered from the shoulders to the ground. A hand, clad in a gauntlet, emerged with a knife which stabbed into the victims shoulder, pinning him to the wall where his corpse was now.

"Mr Vermillion Rubicund, how nice to meet you." The attacker smirked, "just kidding, I want to finish this as quickly as possible!"

"Who… why…" the victim whimpered.

"Hrm… You can call me Cessair Hate, use it when you're begging for your life." The attackers eyes lit up, "As to why, I was just offered something. My client probably wants you dead because you used your magic to fraud little old ladies out of their money. Personally I couldn't care less." He pulled the knife out of Rubicund's left shoulder and stabbed it into his right. Rubicund screamed in agony and Cessair laughed, he turned away from the wall and pulled out a cell phone. "Give me a minute, I got to get this." Rubicund leaned into the wall, loosening the knife, and removed it with his mouth. He may have been injured but he was a trained mage.

He quietly crept up behind Cessair, who obviously thought that with his wounds his victim would be unable to move. Rubicund suddenly lunged at Cessair, the knife in his mouth aimed at his throat. Cessair turned at the last second and brought up his hand, the blade bit into the gauntlet which cracked up one side. Cessair growled and his other hand whipped out like a snake grabbing his head and smashing him into the wall.

Cessair's amber eyes had now taken a look of madness. He pulled an object from under his coat, it looked slightly like a gun but was covered with little blips on the sides. He fired, a tiny light emerged and sped into Rubicund's chest, which erupted. Blood splattered everywhere and the force of the explosion knocked the lamp from the side table. The corpse in the picture now matched to one in the present. Cessair stood there for a minute gained his composure and pulled out a list.

"Well that was infuriating. That's the third gauntlet this week." He intently looked down the list, scratching a line off with the blood of the victim. "Okay. Now who the f*** is Valk…ire...ey Cane? Valerie Cane? F*** how do I pronounce that. Crap. Oooh, she's a detective, that's hot… and a little kid? Who gives me these jobs?!"

Fear of crowds

Fear of physical contact with other people

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**Hope you guys enjoyed, this was originally meant to be two chapters, but They were way to short.**

**This is definitely going to be an ongoing thing.**


	3. Ch 3- A New Suspect, or Threat?

**Hey Guys. Next Weeks upload may be a day or two late, I'm going on a trip and Don't know when I'll have access to internet.**

**I'm really proud of this chapter, however I'm open to criticism. I kill off a lot of cleavers... I'm sorry.**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN Skulduggery Pleasant or Valkyrie Cain (or the cleavers). I DO OWN Adrian/Diogenes Serigar and Cessair Hate. They are from one of my original stories(which can be found on my DeviantART Account[look in my profile if you want to see it]) **

**Have fun,**

**Blanke Slate **

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The Images faded away and Adrian fell on his knees, panting heavily, a small stream of blood dripped from his face. Valkyrie stood, to shocked to move. Skulduggery nodded to the cleavers who stood at the ready.

"Wait… He… he didn't leave… he's still…" Adrian gasped for air. Valkyrie turned to him when she was suddenly pushed to the ground. A cleaver stood over her. "What the hell?" Skulduggery was about to lunge at the cleaver when he saw the hole in the wall, opposite to where Valkyrie's head had been. A bullet hole. The cleaver helped Valkyrie up and joined formation, without a word, as usual. She decided to not think about the fact she had almost died again.

"He's in the next room!" Adrian whispered, having regained his strength. Skulduggery pushed the air sharply towards the wall, because of its rotten wood it shattered upon contact.

The cleavers ran through to find the room empty. Not a trace of life. The target was on the move.

Skulduggery turned to Valkyrie, "He's targeting you, stay with the group and don't get caught on your own. This guy must be a highly skilled assassin, he won't fight you face to face."

Valkyrie was about to argue but she knew he was right. They had seen this… Cessair… slice a man to pieces with his bare hands. It was better to stay in a large group and give him less room to launch an attack.

The group moved quickly. They had 20 Cleavers with them and five were scouting ahead. Adrian ran silently, he stayed with the group but kept his distance. They were making the way to the closest exit, which was difficult due to them being on the 7th floor.

They filed into the stairwell moving swiftly to the 5th floor, but a cleaver motioned for them to stop. He gestured to a small pressure plate set into each step. "Miniature explosives. We'll have to find another way." Skulduggery whispered, although they knew if the killer had placed booby traps then it was likely he knew their position at every moment.

They quickly moved through the halls but stopped when a loud thump was heard ahead of them. Advancing slowly, a cleaver opened a door next to them and jumped back when a body fell in front of him. It was the body of a cleaver, but it's head had been removed. Inside they found the bodies of four other cleavers. They were the cleavers who had scouted ahead. One had been burned, one had a stab wound to the abdomen and was still moving slightly and the other two had bullet wounds to the head and chest.

Valkyrie was backing away in revulsion when they heard a voice. The voice was clearer than it had been in Adrian's vision and it sounded like a boy of early twenties or late teens.

"Wow! You guys came right to me, thanks for saving me the trouble." The voice boomed through the room and halls, "Now how about you hand over the little chick and I can go on my way without having to slaughter the adorable little grey men."

The cleavers raised their scythes and the voice laughed, a cold murderous chuckle, "Or you can do that, to be honest I was planning on killing you all anyway." They heard a small clink at the end of the hall and saw a silhouette of a man.

Ten cleavers ran forward while the other ten stayed back. The figures amber eyes gleamed and a gauntlet clad hand emerged from his cloak with a handgun. Skulduggery recognised it as a colt M1911 pistol, a standard automatic firearm.

Cessair fired multiple times, twisting his body to avoid the cleavers swipes. His bullets ripped through three of them, mostly through the torsos and legs. He ducked under a scythe and kicked the cleaver in the chest. His foot was covered by metal armour and the force of the kick was enough to force the cleaver through the window.

He span, not giving the others time to gain the advantage. It was difficult to predict his movements with the cloak. He pulled the wicked blade from the inside of the cloak and sliced through an advancing cleaver, piercing through the armour and splitting through the flesh. Cessair's eyes sparkled and he smiled. Five left.

The hilt of a cleaver's scythe slammed into his back and Cessair stumbled forward. As the cleaver came in for the kill Cessair's hand shot out to his face and slammed the cleaver into the ground with enough force to break his neck. Cessair flipped over and kicked a cleaver in the chest, using his momentum to stand.

He turned to the others and was about to continue fighting man-to-man when he smirked.

"Screw it." He pulled out his pistol and shot the remaining four point blank. He turned to the remaining group. "Well hi there, fancy meeting you all here." He motioned to them.

"Come at me."

Skulduggery growled and motioned to the remaining cleavers, "Five of you with me, the other five find a way out with Valkyrie and Adrian. Go."

Cessair began walking towards them, "You know I can't let you le-'' He was cut off as Skulduggery threw a ball of flame into his face. "Hey! Not cool!"

He put out the flames on his head with little damage, but Skulduggery used the opportunity to close in, throwing a punches into his chest and face.

"Wait!" Cessair pulled out a trigger-like mechanism, "I've planted explosives around the base of the building, move and I'll detonate them!"

Skulduggery stopped for a moment, motioning to the cleavers to do the same.

"Wait a minute," Skulduggery cocked his head, "Were you really carrying that much explosive material on your person? When did you have time to set this all up?"

Cessair slumped, "Actually I used all my explosives on the stairwell, I really thought you guys would fall for that." He sighed and clicked the detonator, which shot a stream of energy into Skulduggery, who writhed in pain. "But this trigger serves a different purpose." Skulduggery fell, still conscious but the pain stopped him from moving.

The remaining cleavers ran in and attacked. Cessair smiled and his other hand appeared with the strange gun covered in little lights. He smirked and Skulduggery watched as the cleavers were torn apart.

Valkyrie ran. She knew the assassin meant business and she couldn't risk a near death experience. Not since the… Darquesse incident. They'd reached the south stairwell and she forced herself to keep focussed. They had reached the 2nd floor when they heard his voice. Cessair's voice.

"Come on, I'm only trying to kill you. I'll make it quick if you like, just a little bullet to the brain. Come out, come out, where ever you areeee."

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**RIP many cleavers, T^T. **

**Cessair is pronounce KAH-sea-air.**

**Thanks for reading.**

**I don't have much of the next chapter done yet, meaning that if anyone has any suggestions I can put them in!**

**FIVE REVIEWS ALREADY! Thank you guys, so much! I never expected this. Thank you again. **


	4. Ch 4- A Fighting Chance

**I'm back! New chapters up, more cleavers die, I am bad and I should feel bad.**

**Did I mention that this is set after DEATH BRINGER but before KINGDOM OF THE WICKED**

**[DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT Derek Landy and DO NOT OWN Skulduggery Pleasant, Valkyrie Cain, Clarabelle or any of the characters from the SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT SERIES.**

**I DO OWN Cessair Hate and Adrian/Diogenes Serigar. Their stories are on my DeviantART as proof. **

**have fun, I'm pretty proud of this chapter.**

**Blanke Slate**

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Valkyrie gasped as someone grabbed her hand, upon turning she saw that it was a cleaver. He stood there and wrapped his arms around her. Before she could protest or try to resist he carried her out the window. She bit her tongue to stop herself from screaming as they fell the last two stories to the ground, which cracked slightly.

"Why did you do that? What about Adrian and the others?" she furiously whispered in her confusion, not expecting any kind of response. Yet to her surprise she received one.

The Cleaver pressed something on the side of his visor and she heard his voice, mechanical and distorted, "Getting you to safety is top priority, the assassin is targeting you. It's safer for the people inside and outside if you are separated." He gestured for her to follow. She did, stunned to silence.

They were about 100 metres away when the cleaver stopped and pulled out a small device. Holding it up as if looking for reception he clicked in several keys.

"What are you doing?" Valkyrie asked politely, unsure of how to act around this particular cleaver who seemed to answer her questions.

"Sending a distress signal back to sanctuary. Calling backup." The visor seemed to glance in her general direction.

"I didn't think cleavers could talk." Valkyrie raised an eyebrow.

"Only speak when necessary." He said simply. He put the device away, looking up, "Run, now."

She was about to argue when the Cleaver span and ran back towards the building, jumping over trashcans and scaling walls in order to jump through the 2nd floor window.

Valkyrie frowned, she wasn't that weak! Her teammate was inside as well as an innocent civilian they had forced to come, she couldn't just leave them with an estimated 10 cleavers.

She pulled her coat up around her ears and started running towards the first floor, chances were that the other cleavers and Adrian had probably made it there.

Valkyrie Cain stifled a gasp as she silently entered through the old door. Two cleavers lay on the ground in front of her, blood seeping into pool underneath them. Adrian cowered against a wall, she couldn't blame him, this was his first magical fight. The remaining two cleaver were immersed in a battle with the mercenary in front of them, but it couldn't really be called a battle, it was slaughter. There was no sign of the cleaver who had entered before her.

She flicked her wrist, summoning a spear of shadows with her necromancer ring. Cessair turned at the last second as she threw it towards him.

"Ah! Lil Detective girl! How you doin!" He grinned sadistically as he slashed through one cleaver with his blade while twisting to avoid the others scythe. Valkyrie growled as she formed a ball of fire in her palm, throwing it into his chest at the same time as he dodged another swipe from the cleaver. The flames licked around his chest and shoulders and he snarled, beating out the flames with his gauntlet clad hands.

The cleaver took the chance and kicked him with full force in the stomach, sending him reeling backwards. The cleaver raised his scythe and span, aiming for the neck. Only to be blocked by an arm of metal, which shattered.

Cessair's eyes narrowed as his gauntlet fell to pieces, the blade continued and cut into the skin. The wound was shallow but it was vicious. Cessair roared and grabbed the cleaver's scythe with his other hand, tearing it from the cleaver grip. The cleaver stumbled and Cessair pushed his naked hand through his chest. It sliced through the cleavers flesh and bone like it was paper, with hardly any blood due to the cleanness of the wound.

Valkyrie's eyes widened as Cessair shook the cleaver from his arm. His arrogant smile had vanished.

"I didn't want to have to use my magic, but you could say that he forced my hand." Cessair's eyes were a deep and malicious amber. Valkyrie growled and pushed the air towards him, but he lunged forward, hitting her down with his armoured hand. Stars erupted from behind her eyes as her head hit the concrete floor.

He stood over her, his blade in his armoured hand and the other limp by his side.

"I would monologue but this has gone on long enough, so I'm just gonna kill ya." He muttered.

He raised his blade and Valkyrie tried to move but her body wasn't listening. She closed her eyes ready for the cruel bite of the blade.

But… the pain of death never came. Valkyrie opened her eyes again to see Cessair with an agonised look on his face, Adrian's hands were around his neck, both of them hissed in pain. Valkyrie forced herself to stand, much to her body's displeasure. The two boys suddenly fell apart with a roar of agony, Adrian fell to the ground, unmoving, and Cessair dropped onto his knees, panting for air.

He looked up towards her, he scowled and stood, falling slightly as he leant against the wall. He suddenly walked forward. His gun in his hand. His eyes looked tired and didn't seem to focus on her, he looked like a corpse. Valkyrie ducked as a bullet slammed into the wall next to her. Cessair's gun followed her movements and a bullet slammed into her chest. He frowned as he noticed the lack of blood, her jacket was bulletproof.

He aimed again while she was winded and Valkyrie shrieked as a gunshot rang out. But the blood didn't fall from her face, it fell instead from his torso. Cessair looked confused as he fell to the ground, a small pool of blood developing from underneath him.

Valkyrie looked up to see Skulduggery standing in the doorway, his gun in his hand, and the cleaver from before helping him to stand. Valkyrie watched the walk toward her as she lost consciousness.

"Really? Did any of them survive? Did everyone die? That would be sad, but Valkyrie said I could have her jacket if she dies, so you know, it's not all bad." Clarabelle rambled on as a medical mage moaned in annoyance.

"I already told you." He sighed, "Only four of the twenty five cleavers survived, one has a broken spine from falling five stories, but he's fine, another had a stab wound to the abdomen and is in surgery now, and one had his legs torn off. Only one of the cleavers was practically uninjured. Mr Pleasant has a couple of broken ribs and a nasty headache which means he can annoy the heck out of the doctors. And lastly Ms Cain has a slight concussion and a few cuts and bruises. There was also a bystander at the scene who is currently in a coma."

Clarabelle's face fell slightly, "oh, okay. That's a lot off dead cleavers."

"What about the bad guy?" She asked childishly.

The mage stiffened slightly, "He has a bullet wound to the shoulder and a deep rip in his arm, but we can't treat him because he lashes out at anyone who gets close, we can't even sedate him! He's in a bound cell at the moment, at least the cleavers managed to take his coat, I heard he had a huge amount of weapons stored in it!"

She was silent for a few minutes, "Did any of them survive? Did everyone die? That would be sad, but Valkyrie said I could have her jacket if she dies, so you know, it's not all bad." She began again and the other doctor groaned.


	5. Ch 5- Interrogation

**Sorry! I realize I'm a day late and I have no excuses. **

**I like this chapter, it's one of my better ones.**

**Disclaimer at the bottom.**

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Valkyrie scowled as she bit into a leaf, numbing the pain of the large bruise on her chest.

"It's no use sulking you know, even if the sacrifice was great we managed to capture one of the greatest assassins known to the Sanctuary, literally I looked him up and he's in the top twenty most wanted!" Skulduggery said from his bed across from her. He was laying down so his ribs could realign.

"I know, I know, but I was an idiot." She growled, "He was after me and I left safety and put everyone in danger, as well as nearly getting killed in the process."

"Yeah, that was stupid." Skulduggery agreed, holding his hands up in mock defeat a she glared at him. "Well, he probably would have killed Adrian if you hadn't returned, so that's a plus."

"And now he's in a coma because he tried to help me." She retorted.

Skulduggery shrugged, "Better than being dead. Maybe that's why he doesn't touch people, it puts him in a coma, and maybe it only lasts a while. It doesn't matter."

A cleaver entered the room, silent as usual, and handed Skulduggery an envelope. As he left Valkyrie could swear he was looking directly at her.

"It says that they finally managed to sedate Cessair, through the use of a rifle and an elephant tranquiliser. We're instructed to interrogate him when he wakes, he'll be drugged and bound with several handcuffs. We'll be accompanied by a single cleaver, but he won't put up a fight. On another note, Adrian shows signs of recovery." Skulduggery skimmed the note and passed it to her.

Valkyrie headed home.

"Oh, Stephanie. You're home a bit late." Valkyrie's mother called out from the kitchen as she entered the door.

"Mm, I stopped in at a café with Hannah." She lied, she had caught the reflection on its way home from school, and it was climbing through her bed-room window. She headed upstairs and returned the reflection to the mirror, absorbing its memories. Nothing much, study, a teacher strike, not a lot else.

She collapsed onto her bed, and was already sleeping when her mother came upstairs to tell her dinner was ready.

Skulduggery contacted her on the next afternoon, a simple text message, 'Interrogation time, I'll pick you up at the harbour.' She summoned the reflection and left through the window.

"So what kind of information are we looking for?" Valkyrie asked Skulduggery as they drove towards the Sanctuary.

"Well, we're looking for employers, clients, really anyone who's connected to him. Also his methods of killing, past victims, records, that sort of thing." He shrugged.

"Oh, well that should be fairly easy if he's drugged."

"Yeah." There was a few moments of silence before Skulduggery spoke again, "Did you know the name, Cessair, means sorrowful and affliction?"

"Huh, odd choice of name. You'd think he'd choose something less pitiful."

"He even chose Hate as his last name, not really original is he?"

They spent the rest of the ride idly chatting.

Cessair Hate was handcuffed to the chair with multiple handcuffs and even some chains. He wore a pair of baggy jeans and his chest had a few bandages applying pressure to a bullet wound in his shoulder. He still wore one gauntlet on his right hand, while the left had seven large rings on it, each one binding his power. His amber eyes were half open and he seemed to be in a dreamlike state, a doctor was injecting a syringe into his right shoulder when Valkyrie and Skulduggery entered.

Skulduggery sat in a chair across from the mercenary, Valkyrie stood behind and a single Cleaver stood by the door, ready to signal for help at the slightest sign of a struggle.

"Who payed you to Vermillion Rubicund?" Skulduggery asked, Cessair's looked lazily up to him.

"I… never know who the… client it. My bosses just give me... the missions to carry out." Cessair slurred.

"Who are your bosses?"

Cessair's face formed an odd scowl, "I… cannot… I'm forbidden… I… I don't know… their names?"

Skulduggery frowned, the files had said that Cessair was a freelance mercenary.

"Who do you work with?" Skulduggery rephrased his question.

"There… there's several others… there's a few girls, some boys… all in a similar position as me… there's 'little S' and 'Tom'…" His lips twitched in a strange smirk that was gone in an instant.

"Who are they?"

"They work in… information and… silent assassination… I worked with them once…"

"What is your usual method of killing?"

"They… give me a list and some information. Send me to find and kill the victims… I use weapons… unless my gauntlet is broken… my hands…" He trailed off, muttering.

Skulduggery sighed, "Where do you go to receive your 'missions'?"

"Sometimes they find me… When I'm not working I go… back to the bunker… I usually get a list at least once a week."

"Where is the bunker?"

"Can't say." He said simply.

"Do you have a list of past victims?"

"No… I can't keep anything like that… they know. I don't want to either… too many…"

Skulduggery sighed and turned to Valkyrie, "Anything you want to ask him?"

She thought for a minute, before addressing Cessair, "Why did you choose the name Cessair Hate?"

His face twitched slightly, "My… father… he called me Cessair… he knew what it meant… my mother kept the name… I… kept that name… I took on the surname Hate… because it reminds me of… _them_." His eyes suddenly widened in a look of both fear and guilt, "No, I didn't mean to. I had no choice, please don't run away." He muttered to himself. It took a few seconds but eventually he gasped as if he had suddenly realised what he was doing and fell silent.

"Why… did you become a mercenary?" She asked, slightly deterred by his state of mind.

To her shock he looked her straight in the eye, with a scowl on his face, "Ask your psychic friend, he saw everything… no… he relived everything…"

"Who?"

"You know, the one with no eyes."

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**[DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT Derek Landy and DO NOT OWN Skulduggery Pleasant, Valkyrie Cain, Clarabelle or any of the characters from the SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT SERIES.**

**I DO OWN Cessair Hate and Adrian/Diogenes Serigar. Their stories are on my DeviantART as proof.**

**Thank you.**


	6. Ch 6- The Deviant Cleaver

**Hey guys, this chapters a little short, sorry, but I was short on time and thought it would be good to leave it there. I'll make the next chapter longer. **

**Disclaimer at the end. **

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Valkyrie frowned, she could tell by the angle of Skulduggery's skull that if he'd had a face he would be frowning too. It kind of made sense that Adrian would have seen into Cessair's past when he'd grabbed him earlier, but did he really see everything?

Skulduggery turned back to Cessair only to find he was intently staring at the Cleaver by the door.

"Does it bother you?" He said, Skulduggery stayed silent waiting to see how this would play out.

The Cleaver cocked his head slightly, as if to say that he'd heard but he wouldn't interact with the prisoner.

"Does it bother you that I killed all your Cleaver friends? Does it bother you that I would have killed you as well if the psychic didn't interfere?"

The Cleaver turned towards Cessair but remained silent.

"What do you mean him too?" Valkyrie asked and Cessair lazily glanced at her.

"Jeez, you guys are inconsiderate, don't you even recognise this guy? His height is a dead give-away, he's rather short yet has more muscle than the average Cleaver. He saved your life thrice the other day."

"Wait," Valkyrie turned to the Cleaver, "You're the one who returned practically uninjured? The one who jumped out the window?"

"He jumped out a window?" Skulduggery turned to her.

"Yeah, he jumped out the second story window, while carrying me."

"Why?" Skulduggery looked as if the window had never occurred to him as an exit.

"He said something about my life being priority and how I needed to get to safety, than he parkoured through the window to find you."

"Wait, he talked? They can talk?"

The Cleaver and Cessair looked back and forth as the two of them bantered, like a tennis match. Cessair continued talking to the Cleaver, saying things like "Does it bother you?" and "Do you even care?"

The Cleaver crossed his arms and leant against the wall, ignoring all of them.

Eventually Skulduggery reached the conclusion that it was coincidence that the Cleaver had been ordered to guard the room, while it was weird that he had chosen to talk to Valkyrie.

Cessair watched them both for a few seconds, "You guys realise the drugs wore of like a minute ago, right?"

"They did?" Skulduggery was surprised, the doctors had used enough of it to keep him out of it for at least three hours.

"I have good metabolism." He shrugged, "So anything you want to ask me while I'm not bat-s*** crazy?"

"Are you willing to tell us about your bosses, clients and-slash-or workplace?"

"Nope."

Skulduggery sighed, "I thought so. You know you don't have to defend them. You're going to be locked up here for a while now."

Cessair smirked, with all his former sadism, "Oh no, that's why I won't rat them out, they'll probably send someone to break me out soon. I'll have to remember to kill the psychic on the way out, he knows private information. It's rather sad, after all your sacrifices it'll all be for nothing."

He laughed before a scythe stabbed into the table in front of him. Skulduggery turned to see the Cleaver, who had one hand on the staff of the scythe. He walked over to Cessair, dragging the scythe through the table, putting the blade around his neck.

Ignoring the others protest he pulled his visored face next to Cessair's, a clicking sound was followed by a mechanical voice, "Start talking now, or you'll lose your fingers."

Cessair grinned, "So you do have a breaking point, eh little grey man."

Skulduggery stood, "Stand down!" He barked, "You are not to harm the prisoner!"

A growling sound was mangled through a mechanical filter and the Cleaver released Cessair from his grasp, letting him fall to the ground. The Cleaver stalked out, leaving the others in a state of shock.

Skulduggery stood first, "Cleaver's aren't meant to do that." He muttered. Valkyrie opened the door and looked outside, there was a squad of cleavers moving down the hall. The Cleaver was lost among a sea of grey suits.

Skulduggery followed her outside, motioning to some other cleavers that the interrogation was over.

Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain filed in their report of the interrogation to the elders, complete with the information about the Deviating Cleaver. A small search had been conducted, but the specific Cleaver had been impossible to find among the masses, the organisers of the case hadn't actually listed the cleaver they were using in the interrogation, they had just asked one who happened to be near. They said he'd been just standing around near the infirmary area.

Skulduggery dropped Valkyrie home, they'd had no other cases to attend to.

The Sanctuary had heeded Cessair's warning of escape, but they didn't expect it to happen so soon, or to be so brutal. It began that night.

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**Little bit of a cliffy there! **

**Thanks for reading and reviewing!.**

**[DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT Derek Landy and DO NOT OWN Skulduggery Pleasant, Valkyrie Cain, Clarabelle or any of the characters from the SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT SERIES.**

**I DO OWN Cessair Hate and Adrian/Diogenes Serigar. Their stories are on my DeviantART as proof.**


	7. Ch 7- Little S

**Hello again. New Chap. Not really happy with this one, and I'll probably re-do it later.**

**Disclaimer at the end.**

* * *

It was 2:13 am when Cessair's handcuffs were removed. All his binds were taken and his cell door was unlocked. The two Cleavers guarding his cell lay on the floor, both of their heads were missing. The strange part was that there was no blood pouring from their necks, their bodies simply lay unmoving.

Cessair smirked as he exited the cell, "Judging by the bodies, would I be right in guessing that you're 'little S'?"

In range of the cameras and microphone set into the wall a voice was heard, it was high pitched, but had a slightly masculine tone, it could have been a child. "Shut up you f***ing disgrace, you're lucky they sent me in to save your ass." There was no body to match with the voice.

Cessair wandered down the hall, heading towards the evidence locker. With a flick of his bare wrist a cleaver fell to the ground, a large slash across his body. Cessair waited as the evidence locker door key was plucked from the cleavers pocket and pulled through the air, as if held by invisible hands.

The door swung open and Cessair entered, emerging seconds later with his giant coat. He smirked again as he heard the first alarm go off.

Skulduggery Pleasant was looking through a filing cabinet in one of the Sanctuaries many store-rooms when he heard the siren. He put down the file and ran out, following the few mages who were still there at that time of night.

Some of them had stopped by the dead cleavers outside Cessair's cell. A few others had actually mustered the courage to peek inside. The cell was empty and the magic binding equipment lay on the floor.

Skulduggery glanced in and continued to run on ahead, his gun already in his hand. He headed to the evidence locker and actually growled when he saw the door was ajar. One cleaver was leaning against the wall, a gaping wound from his shoulder to the opposite hip. Another cleaver was at his side, helping him to stand.

The cleaver saw him and gestured to a wall, to a sign that said 'medical wingà' Skulduggery nodded in acknowledgement and ran onward.

He only stopped when he saw the back of that great black cloak, and heard his voice.

"Seriously how hard is it to find one guy? The admin woman said he'd be here, but this is a hallway. An empty f***ing hallway!"

Another smaller voice could be heard near him, but there was only one set of footsteps. The voice sounded like that of a child, "He's probably in one of the rooms dumbass."

Skulduggery slowly pulled his gun from his jacket, he already knew what Cessair was looking for, the young boy who knew his secrets, Adrian.

Using the element of surprise to his advantage Skulduggery lunged across the hallway, shooting as he twisted and took cover on the other side. He heard Cessair swear loudly and hoped that meant one of the bullets had made contact.

Unfortunately as he span out again something tripped him and he fell awkwardly, he was vaguely aware of Cessair yelling a distance away, "Cheap Shot!"

If Skulduggery had eyes they would be scowling. He felt the air moving erratically, and his hypothetical heart plummeted as he realised his opponent was invisible. No, not invisible. It was as if they were there, but not quite.

He jumped backwards as he felt the air rushing towards him. He threw a punch but was met with nothingness.

That was when he heard the laughter, and a childish voice "Don't even try. You can't touch me anyway."

Skulduggery immersed himself in thought as he ducked around, avoiding the opponent he couldn't see. He was sure his fist would have made contact if the person was just invisible, but on the other hand if they were intangible then the air wouldn't be responding to their movements.

His head turned to an angle that could only be described as a cocky smirk. He'd figured out the trick. He forced a palm forward and pushed the air. He heard a quiet squeak and knew his theory was correct.

"You're non-existent to all organic material aren't you?" he asked, but he didn't require an answer. Cessair laughed, "Oh damn little S, he's got your technique down!"

A loud sigh was emitted and Skulduggery was surprised to see a figure appear, it was smaller than a teenager, around the size of a 5 year old, and entirely covered in a grey outfit, a hood covered its face. The only actual feature that could be seen was a glowing pair of pink eyes.

"Not quite, but he realised I'm in a similar plane of existence." The figure murmured, mostly to itself, "Also Cessair, you're an a$$hole." It turned to Skulduggery, "You know what, I really have no business here apart from breaking this worthless disgrace out, so I'll take my leave."

Before either of the others could say or do anything the figure disappeared once more but the voice continued, "Come on Hate, we don't need to kill this guy today, we can wait until he leaves."

Cessair frowned, "But he knows everything I know." He said rather seriously.

"Well than he must know next to nothing, c'mon." It seemed to address Skulduggery, "When you tell your supervisors about this do not call me 'Little S' like this idiot. My name is Silas and I'd like to be called such."

Skulduggery stepped forward to try to stop them only to find himself blocked by an invisible wall, "Layer one" The small child's voice murmured and Cessair walked off.

Skulduggery sighed, he had had enough of this s***. How was he supposed to tell the 'supervisors' that the high class prisoner had simply walked out.

Was this Karma?

* * *

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN characters from the Skulduggery Pleasant series.**

**I DO OWN Cessair Hate, Adrian/Diogenes Serigar, and Silas. They are actual characters from a novel I'm writing, and are copyrighted to me.**

**Thanks for reading. Please review and tell me what I should improve, 'cause I can use the constructive criticism. **


	8. Author Note

**Sorry guys. **

**This weeks chapter will be a few days late, I've been dealing with some pretty heavy S*** lately and only realized tonight that this weeks chapter was not only unedited, but incomplete. I'll have the chapter done in two or three days.**

**Sorry again,**

**Blanke Slate**

**Sorry, new Note.**

**I'm not going to make any excuses but this story will be on an unplanned Hiatus for about one more week, maybe more.**

**Sorry again,**

**Blanke Slate**


	9. Ch 8-Interrogation Take Two

**Hey guys, sorry I'm two weeks behind, but like I've mentioned I've been dealing with some pretty dark stuff.**

**Please enjoy this chapter, **

**Blanke Slate.**

**P.S. I'll try my best to get back into routine.**

* * *

Skulduggery wiped a non-existent speck of dust of his beautiful 1954 Bentley R-type Continental. Usually 'cleaning' his pride and joy would be calming, however it seemed he had been practically dying to hit something for the last few days. It had been three days since Cessair's escape and Skulduggery was still absolutely livid.

So it seemed like a gift from the heavens when he got a call from the sanctuary saying there had been a breech in the security.

"What's with that face?" Valkyrie asked as she buckled her seatbelt.

Skulduggery was wearing a façade with a look that could only be described as pure glee.

"What face? I'm not making a face. You're a face." Skulduggery mumbled as the two of them drove off.

They arrived at the Sanctuary without hassle, they were greeted by an administer and taken through to the medical wing.

Valkyrie stifled a gasp as she saw the condition of the hallway. The floor was riddled with bullet holes and there was deep burn and tears through the walls.

"Hrm… the burns and tears weren't here before…" Skulduggery murmured.

"What about the bullet holes?" Valkyrie cocked her head.

"Oh, those were mine, didn't I tell you?"

"No," Valkyrie frowned, "You never mentioned shooting like, two rounds!"

"Oh, could have sworn I did…" Skulduggery murmured, he'd been distant that day, but Valkyrie thought it would be better to just let it go than to start questioning him.

They turned the corner and saw a sight that made Valkyrie want to vomit.

There was three heads, all sitting in a row. Two were cleavers and the third was a mage she had held the door open for once. There was no blood dripping from the actually bodies themselves, it was on the wall above them, painted in thick darkened layers to form words.

"Bring the psychic to the site of the first murder, or the deaths will continue."

Skulduggery turned to the administrator, "What the hell happened?"

"There was a security breech late last night." A voice rang out from the back of the hall.

"Ghastly!" Skulduggery greeted the heavily scarred man, while Valkyrie stayed silent with a simple wave.

"It's believed to be the person called 'Silas', due to the method of killing." Skulduggery remembered the cleavers bodies outside Cessair's cell the other day, while Valkyrie just had no clue what the hell was actually going on. "We moved Adrian to a safe location after the breakout, and they didn't seem to find him. But the very idea that someone could break in this easily is simply… well, crap."

"Is Adrian still out?" Skulduggery queried.

Ghastly raised an eyebrow, "No he just… oh, didn't you get a message?"

"What message?"

"He woke up about three hours ago, he's in interrogation now."

Skulduggery's voice grew dark, "Why is he in interrogation?"

Ghastly sighed, "The other elder's think that because he knows his true name he's a threat. So they're keeping him confined."

"That's not right," Valkyrie argued, "He's only a kid, he hadn't even been in this world until last week."

Ghastly sighed, "I know, I know, but I managed to get the others agree he should be your responsibility, since you two brought him in. He's in cell block D if you want to see him."

Adrian looked awful. He looked tired. He looked depressed. He looked sick.

He sat, handcuffed to a chair, in the very same interrogation room they had first brought him to. Skulduggery shooed away the other interrogation staff and sat down. Valkyrie preferred to stand.

They weren't allowed to remove his bindings, but at least he wouldn't be too badly mistreated with them there.

"Are… you okay?" Valkyrie asked the most stupid question imaginable, but it was necessary.

His head tilted up towards them, "… When… I touch things… I don't just see their pasts. I live it. When I showed you the history of the shattered lamp in the apartment building, I didn't just instantly see the moments we were looking for. I saw everything. From the assembly of the lamp, to it being sold and growing old in that building, it's not sped up or anything, it's every single minute. When the Cleaver touched me it wasn't so bad, his past was fragmented and difficult to see, so it wasn't painful, I can usually feel everything the person feels, but it's like the cleavers don't really have feelings.

When I touched Cessair though, we relived his memories together. From the day he was born, to the day he lost the last of his sanity, to the day he tried to kill everyone in the apartment. I saw everything, through his eyes. I felt everything he felt."

Adrian was silent for a moment, his hands were shaking behind his back.

"God, it's all so f***ed up…" He finished vaguely.

Skulduggery said nothing for a while, before deciding to go with protocol. What they needed now was order.

"Can you tell us anything about his past or his bosses?"

Adrian sighed slightly, "I'll give you an abridged version, seriously, this is only the tip of the iceburg.

Cessair Hate was born under the name Cessair Sahare, his mother was murdered when he was eight and he and his older brother and younger sister became slaves to a noble family illegally, or course. Cessair was born with magic but didn't realise until he accidentally killed his older brother at the age of seven."

He paused and continued,

"In order to escape his imprisonment with his sister he injured and even killed most members of the noble family. He ran away with his sister and stopped in at a gas station two weeks later. There was an armed robbery and his sister was shot dead. Simply a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He ran again and was eventually found by an organisation who threatened to return him to his enslavers. They made him kill for a living, although he never met any of the organisers, only some of the members, including Silas and David Jones, or Little Tom as Cessair called him. After the first few years he even began to enjoy it and stopped trying to escape. The bunkers location is unknown since the person he calls 'little S' always takes him to and from his mission area. However the one piece of information I did get was that every time Silas appears or disappears there is a fluctuation in the areas gravity and air pressure."

Adrian let out a breath. Valkyrie was speechless. Seriously, what was going on?

Skulduggery stood, "Thank you Adrian. I'll talk to the supervisors about letting you go, but until then please wait a while. Sorry, there's not much else we can do."

Adrian nodded as the two of them left.

"Seriously though, what the hell is going on?" Valkyrie turned to Skulduggery as they left.

Skulduggery simply shrugged, "I'll fill you in on some of the information I found in the files later bu~" He was cut off as his phone beeped.

He fell silent, before this voice became positively furious, "The elders are planning on using Adrian as bait. They're going to take him to the apartment building."

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**Sup! Again, I'm sorry I took a while. I'm pretty happy with this chapter.**

**I DO NOT OWN characters Valkyrie Cain, Skulduggery Pleasant, Ghastly Bespoke or their stories.**

**I DO OWN Cessair Hate, Diogenes Serigar/Adrian, Silas and the barely mentioned David Jones/Little Tom(c)BlankeSlateProductions**


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